


Wherein Barbara Lake Uses a Tracking App (which pings Jim's phone in Argentina)

by Never_Give_In



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: AU where barbara uses a tracking app and wonders why the frick jim is in argentina, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Based on a Tumblr Post, Complete, Crack Treated Seriously, Dammit Jim, Episode Related, Episode: so1e16 Roaming Fees May Apply, Gen, Good Parent Barbara Lake, POV Barbara Lake, Season/Series 01, To Be Continued, Two Shot, depending on reaction, possibly, that i can now no longer find
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24242785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Never_Give_In/pseuds/Never_Give_In
Summary: “𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢? 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘑𝘪𝘮-”Based on Tumblr post what if for season one
Relationships: Barbara Lake & Jim Lake Jr., Nana Domzalski & Barbara Lake, Toby Domzalski & Jim Lake Jr. & Claire Nuñez
Comments: 16
Kudos: 124





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so i saw a tumblr post on how the series wouldve paned out if barbara had used find my iphone to find jim's phone after boi just left the house saying he went on a camping trip
> 
> i had to indulge myself with this crack
> 
> this is marked as a complete two-shot for right now (as soon as I put up the next chap- prob by the end of the month) but if yall want this continued i may write another part- again, MAY  
> also also i cant for the life of me find the post that inspired this but if yall find it plz let me know and i'll credit the user!!
> 
> (ALSO ALSO- i love nana i aspire to be her when im old and crotchety)

Barbara sighed as she threw herself onto the living room couch, one hand coming up to remove her glasses while the other pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Jim had just walked out the door, satchel in tow, without saying a word of where he was going or with whom.

Barbara frowned. “No,” she muttered, putting her glasses once more on her nose as she sat up and grabbed her phone. “Claire and Toby.”

Along with some “other friends.” On a camping trip. That was just spontaneously planned. Yeah right.

She didn’t have either teen’s number, and she doubted Jim would pick up or would even have service if he were really on a camping trip, so that left their respective guardians. Claire was new enough to the friend group that her parents numbers had yet to find their way into Barbara’s contacts; although it was doubtful either would answer in any case. So that left Toby’s nana.

Frown firmly in place, Barbara scrolled through her contact list until she came to Nancy, dialing the kind old woman’s number.

“Hi, Nancy, it’s Barbara. Do you have a minute?”

The sound of a crime show sounded off in the background, followed shortly by Nancy’s shouting of something indecipherable.

_“Oh, hello, Barbara,”_ she answered, and Barbara could almost imagine Nancy fiddling with her glasses as she squinted at the TV screen. _“How are you? I do hope everything is alright.”_

Sighing, Barbara habitually nodded and murmured an assent, not wanting to explain her and Jim’s problems with someone else at the moment. “Everything’s fine, Nancy. But I was wondering if you knew where Toby was by chance? Jim said the two of them, Claire, and some friends were going on a camping trip but he wouldn’t tell me where.”

Nancy hummed on the other end of the line. _“Well, Toby-pie came in about an hour ago to grab his book bag. Said he was meeting Jim at Claire’s for a study session. I never heard anything about a camping trip.”_

Barbara bit her lip at the admission, her fingers drumming on her thigh in thought. Whatever was going on with her son, Toby was obviously in on it, although, she thought with a slight smile, that shouldn’t really surprise her with how close the two boys were. No secrets between them. What was concerning was that the lies extended through Toby too, and perhaps even Claire; and how and when the girl had gotten involved with everything was beyond Barbara.

_“I’m sure it was just some miscommunication,”_ Nancy said lightly, her smile shining through her words. _“Even if it isn’t, sometimes kids just need to be kids, Barbara. Nothing us adults can do about that, no matter how much we want to stop it.”_

Barbara bit back a retort about how this went far beyond teenage rebellion. Lying? Sure, yeah, everyone lied every once in a while. Sneaking out? Pretty standard, even cliche in their day and age. But mysterious hospital visits? Getting lost in the woods and coming out with scratches from a creature Barbara had never seen before?

No, sometimes kids need to know that they weren’t invincible and that this wasn’t some fantasy world of cartoons. Jim had already been hurt, and disappearing for hours on end when he thought she wasn’t paying attention was not okay even if it were teenage rebellion.

“Thank you, Nancy,” she replied curtly, eager to think of some other way to prove her son’s secrets, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

With a swipe of her finger, she hung up and tossed her phone onto the couch beside her, blue eyes turning to gaze up at the ceiling. _If only I could know where Jim is-_

Barbara’s eyes widened with realization, snatching up her phone once more to search for the tracker app she had installed on both her and her son’s phones when they got them. Her side hadn’t seen use for months, solely because she didn’t think about it until the need for a last resort arose.

“Please work, please work,” she whispered, thoughts already dwelling on the notion that Jim might already be out of cell range.

The app buffered for a singular minute, loading circle swirling in its usual mocking way. Then the map pinged and lit up, zooming out of Arcadia, then California, then out of North America itself. Barbara’s eyes widened with each zoom, mouth dropping as she saw herself on the map, a little marker with an “M” for mom, in relation to where Jim was: his marker, a “J”, hovered over South America. Upon closer inspection, she realized his phone was pinging in Argentina.

“What the f-”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! sooo sorry this took so long to get out, especially since it's been ready from the day I published this story. but life kinda threw me against a few walls and ive been having such a hard time keeping track of time it doesn't feel like its been that long! so again, sorry yall! X(
> 
> HOWEVER! i'll repeat what i said last chapter- this is meant to be a two-shot; the story is now complete as is, but if enough of yall want another chapter or would like to even continue it on your own just shoot me a comment down below! anywho- enjoy!

Jim really hated Argentina.

Granted, maybe the country itself was very nice, but their volcano Ojos Del Salado left something to be desired. The giant cannibal troll living inside the fire mountain didn’t help matters of course.

“What is taking them so long?” Claire exclaimed, dodging a surge of lava that erupted by her feet. Her gaze met Jim’s, each wide-eyed in their own way. “We’ve got to get to the gyre before this place blows!”

Jim opened his mouth to agree, despite his urge to want to wait for Blinky and Toby, but his phone’s Gun Robot ringtone answered instead. Thinking it was Toby, and releshing in the relief of the thought, Jim didn’t even check the caller ID.

“Tobes! Are you okay? We can’t hold out much longer. Gatto-”

_“James Lake Junior, why the_ hell _is your phone’s location Argentina? I swear to God, Jim-”_

“Mom?!”

Claire’s stride froze at the exclamation, mouth agape as she screeched, “Your mom?!”, just as Arrrgh swept her up onto his back to avoid the explosive lava and rock around them. The Krubera gave a similar grunt of concern, protecting Jim as he froze at the voice on the other end.

“Mom, slow down, okay? We’re fine, we’re all fine,” he soothed, voice the complete opposite of calm and soothing as it was filled with panic. “That’s really weird, though. Argentina? Wow, m-must be a glitch or somethi- ahh!”

The plateau of rock the trio had been standing on gave way under the pressure of Gatto’s fire, breaking away under Jim’s feet and throwing off his balance until Arrgh swept him up and Claire steadied him as he gripped his phone tighter.

_“Jim? Jim, what’s happening?”_ The anger from her voice had completely dissipated, replaced by the panic of a mother’s worry. _“Are you okay?”_

“I’m good!” he replied, grimacing at the text sound that rang in his ear. He didn’t hear his Mom’s next words, too busy reading off Toby’s text to Claire. “Back door? What-”

The next few seconds were a blur as Arrrgh got them to the gyre just in time, Blinky and Toby joining them right before the lava could melt the controls.

“Mom?” Jim tried to keep steady as the gyre slingshotted them back to Arcadia, voice shaky not only from the g-force but also from fear of his mother. “You still there?”

_“Jim, whatever just happened, I don’t care, okay? But as soon as you are able, I- you’re back in Arcadia.”_

It wasn’t a question, and Jim only belatedly realized that the gyre had indeed arrived back at Trollmarket. His gaze flickered to the wide-eyed expressions of his human friends, then the fear-filled ones of his troll ones.

“Y-yeah,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Jim took a deep breath before responding. “Uhm, look, Mom, I-”

_“I’m coming to you.”_

Jim almost dropped the phone. “What?! No, Mom, you can’t-”

_“You’re by the canal, aren’t you? You stay put, mister. I mean it.”_

Then she hung up, and Jim could only groan and sink to the floor of the gyre, closing his eyes in a semblance of peace.

“So, my mother’s coming to Trollmarket. How do you guys want to handle that one?”


End file.
